Parents Of Bullied Girl Who Died By Suicide Sue Middletown District

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — The Middletown school district has now been sued by the family of Jocelyn Walters, a 14-year-old girl who died by suicide in September 2022.

Walters had just started her sophomore year at Middletown High School North when she took her own life.

The lawsuit was filed by her parents, Fred and Solangie Walters, who continue to live in Middletown, and raise their other daughter here.

The Walters family said Jocelyn's death took place after "an extended and persistent pattern of bullying" that started in 2021 at Middletown North, and lasted until the day of her death on Sept. 9, 2022.

Her father found her "minutes" later, and "was present during the last moments of her life," her family disclosed.

The Walters said they repeatedly told High School North principal (then Patricia Vari-Cartier) and North guidance counselors about the bullying — specifically that their daughter was being bullied by one girl in particular.

The Middletown school district did nothing about it, her parents allege, and the two girls were placed in some of the same classes at the start of sophomore year.

Jocelyn took her own life three days into the new school year.

Their lawsuit sued: The Middletown Board of Education, former superintendent Mary Ellen Walker, High School North principal Patricia Vari-Cartier, assistant principal Chris Regenio, High School North guidance counselors Ryan McCabe and Jacquelin Duca, as well as Mark Sedlak, a psychiatric nurse at Hazlet-based Rising Swell Mental Health, LLC and who was treating Jocelyn for depression.

The family has also sued the girl they accuse of doing the bullying, as well as her older sister.

The lawsuit also named multiple unnamed Middletown students, teachers and administrators, only identified as Jane/John Doe. The family says they don't know the names of all the students who bullied their daughter. They also say Middletown North teachers, administrators and students "created a hostile environment and constituted discrimination against Jocelyn based on her gender, sexual orientation and/or disability."

Nobody who was sued responded when Patch asked if they had a comment or response for this article, including Middletown school board president Frank Capone and Bruce Padula, the school district's lawyer.

Walters, known as "Josey" to her friends, was a soccer goalie. She also worked part-time at Keansburg Amusement Park. Her favorite band was the Smashing Pumpkins.

Jocelyn's main tormentor

Jocelyn's father, Fred Walters, said he started telling High School North staff in January 2022 that his daughter was being bullied. Jocelyn was in ninth grade at the time.

"Jocelyn’s main tormentor...who initially posed as Jocelyn’s friend, extracted personal and private information from Jocelyn, and then disclosed that personal and private information to others in an attempt to belittle and demean Jocelyn," the family's lawyers wrote in the lawsuit. She "also used anonymous social media sites known as 'MHSN Clowns' and/or 'Confessions' to harass, intimidate, bully and abuse Jocelyn and others."

A feud then started between the girl and her older sister, and Jocelyn and her sister.

The Walters say the bullying was mostly online, with the girl removing Jocelyn from various groupchats, cropping her face out of pictures posted on social media, and also that her older sister would text Jocelyn vulgarities, such as “little c***”, that she had “the biggest nose in the whole town” and warning Jocelyn and her sister, "girl, don’t f*** with me ."

The Walters say Jocelyn, as well as other North students, reported the bullying to Duca and others, "who took no action to investigate and lend proper support."

Jocelyn also wrote about the bullying in her Creative Writing/Journalism class, and her writing was reported to the guidance department, "but, again, the High School, the Board/District and defendants took no action."

The Walters say school was such a torment for Jocelyn that she once locked herself in a High School North bathroom and would not come out. Jocelyn also first attempted suicide in March of that year (2022) and was hospitalized.

"Even while Jocelyn was in the hospital (recovering from her first suicide attempt) (she) posted in a group chat the following regarding Jocelyn: 'I wonder if she’s going to do anything back . . . I’m honestly going to try and keep instigating her until she actually does something to me that I can get her in trouble for,'" read the lawsuit.

On March 14, 2022, Fred Walters said he met with assistant principal Reginio, Duca and McCabe and voiced concern that North was doing nothing to support his daughters.

"Again, the Board/District and Board Defendants did nothing to protect Jocelyn," read the lawsuit.

Jocelyn started receiving medical help for her anxiety and depression, and on Aug. 26, 2022 she met with Mark Sedlak, an advance practice nurse at Rising Swell Mental Health, located in Hazlet.

According to her parents, Jocelyn told Sedlak at that visit she was again having thoughts of suicide. It was on that date that Jocelyn's parents allege Sedlak "doubled Jocelyn’s antidepressant medication without knowing the dosage she was taking."

They allege he also "failed to notify Jocelyn’s parent(s) of her emergent condition; failed to advise Jocelyn’s parents that she should be hospitalized; and further failed to schedule a follow-up appointment ... At the time of this visit, Jocelyn’s emotional well-being was significantly deteriorating."

Sedlak did not respond to repeated attempts to interview him.

Jocelyn and her alleged bully placed in same classes sophomore year

The torment hit a peak at the very start of the 2022-2023 school year: That September, "despite the long and documented history of abuse, Jocelyn was placed in some of the same classes as her tormentor," said her parents.

On Sept. 8 and Sept. 9, Jocelyn told the school nurse she was upset and the nurse "failed to take appropriate action given Jocelyn’s history and further failed to alert Jocelyn’s parents of these visits," the lawsuit said.

Hours later, on September 9, 2022, Jocelyn took her own life.

Immediately after Jocelyn died, the girl texted the following regarding Jocelyn’s death: “[s]he died stop making controversy about it," the suit alleged.

Walters' family filed the suit on May 7. As of June 14, the case was still working its way through the New Jersey court system. The Walters are seeking compensatory damages (money) from the Middletown school district.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — after no significant change between 2001 and 2007 — the suicide rate among young people ages 10-24 increased 62 percent percent from 2007 through 2021.

Also, 30 percent of teen girls said they seriously considered attempting suicide, which is up almost 60 percent from one decade ago, the CDC found.

Suicide and attempted suicide among adolescents has been directly linked to bullying and the percentage of teens bullied in New Jersey is higher than the national median, according to their lawsuit.

Lawyers for the Walters family also wrote: "Although controversial, pediatric antidepressants have been prescribed to minors suffering from depression and related disorders. The use of antidepressants in children and adolescents has increased substantially since 2005, despite the lack of convincing evidence that the benefits outweigh the risks and treatment-emergent suicides remains a major concern."

First Patch report on death of Jocelyn Walters: Funeral Services Announced For Middletown Girl, 14 (Sept. 2022)

99 Lanterns Released Saturday In Memory Of Middletown Girl, 14 (Sept. 2023)